Adjustment means for bucket lines



Aug. 2, 1932, w. M. VENABLE ADJUSTMENT MEANS FOR BUCKET LINES Filed Nov. 20, 1930 ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 2, 1932 UiTE' STATES PAT'NT FE EQ KNOX COIKPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, JERSEY PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF NEW ADJUSTMENT MEANS FOR BUCKET LINES Application filed. November 20, 1930. Serial No. 496,900.

The present invention relates to an improved means for securing the dead end of a bucket line to the bucket structure and is particularly concerned with the provision of 5 means for adjusting the end of the line to of shock when the bucket opens are largely" suit the conditions imposed by the size and weight of the bucket and the character of the material in which it is operating.

The invention is especially useful in connection with what has now become well known in the art as the single line. bucket, namely, that type of bucket in which the operations of raising and lowering the bucket and of 315 opening and closing the scoop members are influenced by variations in the point at which the dead end of the line is connected to the scoop. 7 During manufacture of the bucket it is not practicable .toexactly determine the proper point to which the line should be attached, not only because the center of gravity of the bucket cannot always be definitely pre determined, but also because thecharacter of the material for whichthe bucket is to be used will have a bearingupon this adjustment.

Furthermore, it is frequently necessary to fur nish a bucket which was originally designed and constructed with plate of a given thickness'and ofa given total weight so as to make it heavier or lighter by altering the thickness of some of the parts, and when this is done it immediately becomes necessary to change the position of the dead end pin. Furthermore, differences in the friction of the vario-uspar'ts during opening and closing of the bucket are also a factor in preventing any absolute predetermination of the exact position for the dead end pin. However, after a bucket has once been built and used for a few weeks. it is not usuallynecessary to change the adjustment thereafter unless the service to which the bucket has been applied is radically changed;

ith the foregoing in mind, the principal object of my invention can be said to reside in the provision of improved means for conveniently and accurately adjusting the position of the dead end pin over as wide a range as is practicable so that all variations incident to manufacture may be compensated for, and further so that the bucket after manu facture can be adapted to handle materials of widely differing characteristics.

In practice a bucket design is made by very carefully figuring the centers of gravity of all of the bucket parts in the various positions they will occupy during the opening and closing of the bucket, and then in graphically locating the approximate position of the dead end pin as closely as it is possible to do so by considering the motion of the center of gravity of the bucket as it opens and the amount of the lifting of the bucket on the closing line due to the motion of the dead end pin. After this point is so located the bucket is designed so that the pin can be adjusted to come at this point or atvarious points in the neighborhood of this point, as may be rendered necessary by slight variations in the weights of the different parts, the degree of friction developed, and in the behaviour of the bucket due to the material being handled. As stated, my invention relates to a means for providing the widest possible variation in adjustment of the pin in order to satisfy this procedure;

The invention is illustrated in a preferred form in the accompanying drawing, where- 1n Fig. 1 is aside elevation of a single line bucket embodying my improvements with the bucket scoops practically wide open.

Fig. 2 is a section through the back of a scoop showing in side elevation upon an enlarged scale certain portions of my improved apparatus, and

Fig. 3 isan end elevation of Fig. 2, taken from the left hand side of the figure.

The bucket comprises the scoops 4; and 5 pivoted together upon the pin 6 in the usual way, the upper outer edges of the scoops be ing supported by the corner bars 7 and 8 which are pivoted at their lower ends to the scoop members by means of the pins 9 and 10. The upper ends of the corner bars are secured together by means of the corner bar pivot pin 11.

The bucket is provided with the customary upper sheave block 12 and the lower sheave block 13, between which is reeved the lifting and operating cable 14. The lower sheave block 13 is secured to the free end of the locking link 15 which has its other end pivoted at 16 to the free end of a curved supporting link 17. Motion of the sheave block 13 is guided by the radius rod 18.

The foregoing represents old and well known construction, the operation of which is quite familiar to those skilled in the art, so that it is believed to be unnecessary to describe it in any greater detail, the present invention being concerned with the means for securing the end of the line 14 in accordance with. the accompanying illustration and the description thereof now to be presented.

The end of the line 14 is fastened in any suitable manner to the yoke-shaped securing member 19, in the spaced arms 20 of which is mounted the pivot pin 21.

The member 19 is supported by a pair of arms which are individually adjustable as to length and independently pivoted at different points to the scoop member and which are indicated as a whole by the reference characters 22 and 23. The free ends of these members 22 and 23 are articulated together upon the pin 21 in the member 19. It will, therefore, be clear that by adjusting the length of the arms 22, 23, it is possible to vary the location of the pin 21 and consequently the member 19 and the end of the line 14 over a wide range in accordance with the details of construction now to be described.

The member 22 comprises an upper nut member 24- pivot-ed to the central portion of the pin 21 between the arms 20 and a lower nut member 25 pivoted upon a pin 26, which latter is carried on the upper outer or back edge of the scoop 5 between the supporting plates 27 and 28. The plate 27 is supported between the angles 29 and 30 attached to the back of the scoop and the plate 28 is secured between the angles 31 and 32 also carried on the back of the scoop, and each plate 27 and 28 is provided with a hub-like projection 33 between. which is located the hub of the nut member 25. A bolt or pin 35 oppositely threaded at its opposing ends is screwed into the adjacent ends of the nut members 24 and 25, lock nuts 36 and 37 being provided to hold the pin in any desired position of adjustment.

The construction of the member 23 is very similar, except that the upper nut member 38 is yoke-shaped as shown in Fig. 3 to em brace the member 24 upon the pin 21.

The lower nut member 39 is pivoted to the back of the scoop at a point substantially removed from the upper outer edge as shown in Fig. 2, the pin 40 upon which the member swings being mounted between the lower ends of the plates 27 and 28 as shown best in Fig. 3. The nut members 38 and 39 are secured together by means of the pin or bolt 43 also provided with opposing threads at its opposite ends which are adapted to be screwed into the threaded openings in the nut members 38 and 39. Lock nuts 44 and 45 are provided to hold this pin in its various positions of adjustment.

The pins 21, 26 and 40 are readily removable and I prefer to make the necessary adjustments by removing the pins 26 and 40, unscrewing any one of the lock washers 36, 37, 44 or 45, and then turning the nut members 25 and 29 until the desired adjustment has been made. When the nuts 37 and 45 are locked rotation of the nut members 25 and 39 will, of course, rotate the pins 35 and 43 in the nut members 24 and 38, but when the nuts 36 and 44 are locked and the nuts 37 and 45 loose, rotation of the members 25 and 39 will, of course, cause them to move up or down upon said pins 35 and 43.v

In this way I have provided for simply and accurately adjusting the location of the dead end pin 21 and consequently of the dead end of the line 14 which is secured to the member 19 carried by the pin 21.

I claim 1. A bucket structure of the class wherein a single operating line has a dead end secured thereto, characterized by the fact that the bucket structure is provided with a pair of swinging arms each of which is adjustable as to length. and the free ends of which are articulated together and further by the fact that the dead end of the line is attached substantially at the point of articulation.

2. Means for adjusting the end of a bucket line including in combination with a scoop member of the bucket. a pair of arms, adjustable as to length and independently pivoted at different points to the scoop member and having their free ends pivoted together.

3. In a single line bucket, means for adjusting the position of the dead end of the line with reference tov a scoop which includes a pair of threaded take-up members pivoted at different points on the scoop and articulated together approximately at the dead end connection point.

4. In a bucket, the combination with an operating line, of a scoop, a take-up member pivoted to the upper outer edge of the scoop, a second take-up member pivoted to the scoop below said first pivot, the free ends of said take-up members being articulated together, and means for securing the end of the line at the point of articulation.

5. Means securing a bucket line to a bucket structure including in combination, a pair of nut members articulated together, a 00- operating pair of nut members separately pivoted at different points to the bucket structure, and a threaded pin connecting each cooperating set of nut members, the end of the line being fastened to said point of articulation and adjustment thereof being effected by screwing said pins into or out of said nut members.

6. Means for adjusting the end of a bucket line including in combination with a scoop member of the bucket, a pair of arms independently pivoted at different points to the scoop member with their free ends articulated together and means for moving the articulated joint.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE. 

